Summit Hill man arrested for DUI

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Charles Breiner, 54, of 13 Stoney Lonesome Road, Summit Hill, faces charges from an incident which took place on Sept. 29 at routes 209 and 902. Charges of driving under the influence and careless driving were filed by Lansford Det./Sgt. Jack Soberick.

According to an affidavit of probable cause, here's what happened:

At 2:30 a.m. Sept. 29, Soberick saw a man who appeared to be suffering some type of physical distress enter the driver's side of an older model Chevy Blazer that was parked in front of the Turkey Hill Minit Mart in the borough. He pulled the vehicle onto Patterson Street and headed east. Soberick followed to make sure the driver was capable of safely operating the vehicle.

Soberick saw the driver drive the Blazer along the curb, in an area marked for parking, and, after a short distance, began drifting back across the lane of travel.

At the intersection of Patterson and Springgarden, the driver nearly failed to stop for a steady red signal. The vehicle stopped only after going about half-way through the intersection.

After stopping the Blazer near Abbott and Springgarden streets, Soberick approached the driver. As he approached the driver's side window, he could smell a moderate to strong odor of alcohol coming from inside the car. He asked the driver, who was the sole occupant, for his license, registration and insurance card.

The driver was slow to respond, spoke with a thick tongue and slurred his speech. He was unable to visually identify his credentials, even after passing them several times in his wallet. Soberick pointed them out to him. He asked the driver, identified as Breiner, to perform field sobriety tests. Breiner displayed poor balance and coordination, and Soberick could smell alcohol on his breath.

Breiner could not follow simple instructions, and could not complete the tests.

He was arrested and taken to St. Lukes Miners Memorial Hospital, Coaldale, for blood alcohol tests. His blood alcohol level was revealed to be 0.228 percent. The threshold for drunken driving is 0.08 percent.